Ice has long been provided to meet various commercial demands. Generally, sizable quantities of particulate ice are stored within a bin to facilitate the availability of ice so that an appropriate amount of ice needed in a given instance may be removed from the bin. Once ice has been made, whether as ice shavings, cubes, cylinders, or the like, such particles usually reside in the holding bin until dispensed.
Removal of ice from upright bins has traditionally been performed by either hand scooping or shoveling from the bin. It is preferable for ice to be delivered to containers on a first in, first out basis. This feature, however, typically requires that the ice access area be low, near the bottom of the ice bin, which yields a less than optimum removal height, particularly for scooping. When the bin is full and the ice access area is near the bottom of the ice bin, a baffle is required to keep the ice from pouring out of the ice access area when the ice bin is full.
A difficulty with such a baffle is that it limits access for shoveling and ice agitation, ice bridge breaking, and the like. To resolve this problem, one prior baffle means uses a hinged ice check door, which is hinged at the top of the ice access area, which swings from a locked position inside the ice bin, where baffling occurs, out such that additional ice access is achieved. If there is ice filling the ice access area, interference between the ice check door and the ice occurs, making returning the door to the locked position, where proper baffling is achieved, very difficult. An object of the present invention eliminates this difficulty by using a baffle that slides into place through the ice, rather than a baffle that rotates.
The present invention provides a new and improved ice bin, having an ice access and discharge apparatus in which ice is delivered via gravity from the ice bin through an ice discharge chute having a discharge gate. The baffle provides for metering of the ice to the ice discharge spout as well as providing for ice to be delivered on a first in-first out basis.
The principal object of the ice discharge apparatus of the present invention provides improved means for removing ice from a conventional up-right ice bin, a better method of maintaining and controlling ice flow in the bin, and a simple, cost effective means for transporting ice in confined areas.